EFFECT OF ZIMELDINE AND ITS METABOLITES ON [H-3] THYMIDINE INCORPORATION IN LYMPHOCYTE-CULTURES FROM PSYCHIATRIC-PATIENTS WITH OR WITHOUT AHYPERSENSITIVITY REACTION DURING ZIMELDINE THERAPY

Lymphocyte transformation test (LTT) was applied to 28 patients who ha d developed a hypersensitivity syndrome (HSS) during treatment with th e antidepressant drug zimeldine. Twenty-seven patients treated with zi meldine without any symptom of an HSS were matched controls. Zimeldine and its metabolites norzimeldine and CPP 200 all induced statisticall y significant increased [H-3]thymidine incorporation in cultured lymph ocytes from the HSS patients compared with the controls, norzimeldine being the most potent inducer. The results indicate an immunoreactive process in the development of the HSS induced by zimeldine.